Car-wheel.



w. MQGONWAY.

, GAB. WB'BHL. APPLIOATION FILED nov. 7,-1908.

Patented July 27, 1909- witnuwo WILLIAM McCONWAY, OF PITTSBURG,PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1909.

Application filed November 7, 1908. Serial No. 461,542

To all whom "it may concern:

' Be it known that I, WVILLIAM McCoNwAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsburg, in-the county of Allegheny and -Flt-ate ofPennsylvania, havp invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Wheels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the-art to which it appertains to. make and use the same.

My invention relates to the manufacture of wheels for vehicles, and isparticularly directed to the production of a wheel which is especiallyfitted to etliciently fulfil the severe requirements of strength anddurability imposed upon wheels for railway cars.

In accordance with my invention, a wheel center and a tire .or treadsection are con nected and maintained in proper relation by meansofinterposed circumferentially extending wedges the direction of taper ofsome of which is opposed to the direction of taper of others, and such aconstruction embodies the principal feature of my invention.

There a're other, minor, features of invention, residing in particularcombinations and elemental. constructions, all'as will hereinafter morefully appear.

In practice it is preferred to employ a rolled steel tire and a caststeel wheel center, as a wheel having a long life in service is therebyproduced, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedto the use of the materials suggested, since it is equally applicablewhen the parts are formed of other materials.

Tn the drawings chosen for the purpose of illustrating my invention,thescope whereof is, pointed out in the claims, Figurc'l is a side viewof a car wheel embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectiontaken in the plane of the line-2---2, Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a detailsectional View taken in the plane of the line 3 3, Fig. 4-, Fig. i is adetail view in side elevation showing oneof the sets of fillers andwedges by which the wheel'centcr and tire are initially connected, Fig.5 is a (letail plan view showing the relation of the fillers and wedgeillustrated in Fig. 4, Fig. 6 is a fragmentary View in side elevationshowing a completed car wheel in which the fillers and wedges have beenwithdrawn and the spaces occupied thereby filled with molten material;and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the fillers.

Like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur.

I will now proceed to describe my invention more fully, so that othersskilled in the art to which it appertains may apply the same.

In the drawings, A is a wheel center which is formed with a suitable hubl located at the center thereof. The web 2 of the wheel center has itsperipheral surface preferably formed otherwise than as a ruled surface,for example as a corrugated surface 3*.

The tire or tread section B of the wheel has its inner circumferentialsurface 1 likewise formed to interlock with those devices which areinterposed between it and the wheel center A, corrugations such as shownbeing very effective for this'purpose. The opening within the tiresection B is sufliciently larger thanthe center member A to provide anannular space between these two parts, such annular space being ofvariable cross section and consisting of a series or succession of wedgelike spaces each of Which has its taper opposed to the direction oftaper of the immediately adjacent wedge like spaces. The series ofcircumferentially extending wedge like spaces may be formed byfashioning the peripheral surface of the wheel center A or the innercircuinferential face of the tire B, or both suchsurfaces,

with curved rfaccs which are eccentric with respect to ach other. In thedrawings the wheel cente alone is shown as provided with the curvedeccentric surfaces, the clements of the inner circinnferential face ofthe tread section B being circular. Such a construction is of particularutility when the wheel center is a casting and the tire is formeril byrolling, as the curved eccentric faces may be more readily formed bycasting than by rolling.

For the purpose of securing the tire B to the wheelcentcr A in properrelation to permit the circumfcrentially extending locking members orwedges C to be cast between them, several egpially spaced sets offillers I) and wedges r) are preferably employed.

These fillers and wedges are all siinilar in construction, but are madein sizes to fit the widest and narrowest portions of the annular spacebetween the wheel center and tire, as will be readily understood from anexamination of Fig. 1 8f the drawings. Each filler block D has acorrugated or otherwise formed face 1 corresponding to the form of theperipheral face of the wheel center A or inner circumferential face ofthe tread section B, according as it engages one or the other of thesemembers. Each filler is also preferably tapered in two directions, thatis to say, each filler is preferably formed so that it is thicker at oneend that at the other,

the sides which are presented to the ends of the circumferential wedgesC. being convergent toward such thicker end. Each wedge E is alsopreferably taperedin two directions toward one of its ends. The doubletapered construction of fillers D and wedges E is more particularlyexhibited in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the drawings.

To secure the tire B to the wheel center A prior to casting the curvedwedges C, fillers D are inserted, as shown in Fig. l, in pairs in theannular space between said members A and B, the respective corrugated orotherwise suitably i'ormed faces of the fillers engaging thecorrespondingly shaped surfaces of the wheel center and tire, and thethicker ends of each of said fillers being placed ad-- jacent to eachother so that the space he tween them will receive and conform to thewedge E. When the wedges E are driven between the oppositely arrangedtillers D the latter are forceddnto intimate interlocking contact withthe tire B and wheel center A, thus securing these two principal partsin the relation they occupy inthe completed wheel.

Afterthe wheel center and tire have been secured to each other by meansof, the fillers D and wedges E, molten metal or other suitable materialis poured into each of the.

tapering segmental spaces bounded by the" tire, wheel center andadjacent sets. of fillers and wedges. The molten material when cooledforms a series of curved locking wedges C lying between the wheelcentenA and tire B and conformingto the configures tion of the adjacentfaces of said members A and B.

After the wedges C have been cast between the tire and. wheel center, asheretot'ore described, all of the fillers 'D and wedges E are removed,such removal being readily effected by reason of the double taper withwhich each of these members is formed.

The curved wedges G are then forced or ce'xt thinner ends of thecircumferentially extending wedges fllfOICllllf sufficient clearance topermit such wedges U) be driven into intimate contact with the peripheryof the wheel center and the inner circumferential surface of the tire.

liVhen intimate contact of the curved wedges C with the Wheel center Aand tire B has been efiected, the spaces remaining between the thinnerends of suchwedges G may be permanently filled with properlyproportioned wedges, but it is preferred-to withdraw the wedges employedfor driving the members 0 circumferentially and fil all remaining spacesbetween the tire and wheel center with molten material, as at-v F, F,Fig. 6, thus in effect storming a continuous annular cast metal lockingmember which is in intimate contact both with the wheel center A andtire or tread section B of the wheel. v

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patentis:

1. A. car wheel comprising a wheel center having a curved peripheralface the circumferential elements of which consist of cocentric arcs, atire, and wedges connecting.

said tire to said wheel center, the direction of taper of some oi saidwedges being opposed to the direction oit taper of others.

Fit

2. Ac'ar wheel comprising a wheel center,

a tire and wed es connecting said wheel center and tire, said wedgesbeing arranged in pairs having their thicker ends adjacent to eachother. i

3. A car wheel comprising a wheel center, a tire which is larger thanthe wheel center and forms therewith a series of wedge like spaces eachof which tapers in a ditlerent direction from the taper ot'its'immediately adjacent spaces, and'wedges located in the wedge like spacesbetween the i /he'el center and tire. and connecting said tire.to j saidw-heel center.

a tire, circumferentially extending wed es connecting said tire andwheelcenter, t 'e direction of taper of some of said wedges being opposed tothe direction of taper of others, and independent wedges separating saidcircumferentially eitending wedges.

5. A car wheel comprising a wheel center, a tire, and wedges connectingsaid members, said wheel center and tire being formed with continuouslycurved Faces which interlock with said wedges.

6. As a means for connecting a wheel center to a the prior to castinglocking members between them, the combination with separable fillcrsadapted to engage and inter-.

lock with the wheel center and tire respectively, of an lnterposcd wedgefor separatin said fillers.

. As a means for connecting a wheel A car wheel comprising a wheelCenter,

'cenier to a tire prior to cn sting locking'rnembers between them, thecombination of separable fillers which are tapered in two directions,and interposed Wedge which is, tapered 111 two dlrectlons.

8. A Wheel center 'for car Wheels, said consisting connected face, thecircumferential elements of said' 10 curved surface consisting ofeccentric arcs.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature,

in presence of two subscribing witnesses WILLIAM .MCOON AY;

W'itnesses:

J; W. HARTLEY, F. D. ECKERI

